Scottish Enterprise sets out support in economic slowdown

Speaking ahead of the meeting where he will launch the organisation’s Annual Review 2007/2008, Scottish Enterprise Chairman Sir John Ward said: “In the current economic climate it remains vital that we capitalise on the competitive strengths of the country's intellectual property, natural assets and proven industries.

“Our clear focus on industries where we have a real competitive advantage is already starting to bear fruit and I believe this should help ensure that Scotland is best placed to withstand many of the effects of the downturn.”

The meeting in Dundee will be the first to be held since the major restructuring of Scottish Enterprise earlier this year, as Scotland’s enterprise, innovation and investment agency. Sir John Ward will highlight that the restructuring, which saw Scottish Enterprise become a single organisation operating from Grampian to the Borders, ensured that it was in an ideal position to help steer Scottish companies through difficult market conditions.

“Our restructuring means we now have the flexibility to allocate people and money where it will have the biggest impact for Scotland. This is especially important in times of economic uncertainty such as now. It is essential that we are able to respond both quickly and effectively to changes in market conditions and to customer demands, and our new structure means we can do just that,” he said.

Sir John Ward will be joined at the Annual Public Meeting by Scottish Enterprise Chief Executive Jack Perry, special guest speaker Colin Macdonald of Dundee-based gaming company Real Time Worlds and an audience of businesses and partner organisations.

Responding to customer feedback on the early effects of currently changing economic conditions, Mr Perry will tell the Annual Public Meeting that Scottish Enterprise has a wide range of tools and support available to help companies improve efficiencies, access finance and exploit new markets.

He will also say that Scottish Enterprise has a key role to play in helping companies respond to both the short and long term challenges of the economic slowdown.

He said: “We already have some very valuable tools which will help customers address some of the issues arising from the changing economic situation. For example, both our Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service and lean management programme, are helping companies increase efficiencies and raise productivity, generating real savings for their bottom line.

“Through the work of Scottish Development International we are also helping companies tap into new international markets, which will be particularly important for those companies whose existing exports markets are slowing down as a result of the downturn.

“In addition we are taking steps to ensure that our own people have the right skills and knowledge to help advise customers on these changed circumstances and how we can help.”

However, he emphasised that Scotland has a number of key attributes – including a strong labour market, world class strengths in several key industries, as well as low unemployment rates – all of which will help Scottish businesses manage in a downturn.

The Annual Public Meeting will also highlight some of Scottish Enterprise’s key achievements of the past year. These include:

• attracting 2,578 new high value jobs to Scotland through inward investment
• completing 74 deals through its investment funds where Scottish Enterprise’s investment of £17.3million leveraged a further £31.5 million of private sector capital into 77 Scottish companies
• completing the Edinburgh BioQuarter deal with Alexandria Real Estates, which committed new private sector investment of £250million
• securing 17 R&D+ projects to the value of £16.8 million - bringing new business based expenditure on R&D of £104.6 million to Scotland.

Sir John Ward added: “These are impressive results for the whole team at Scottish Enterprise and reflect the hard work and commitment of each and every staff member.  They achieved all their targets for the year, within budget and while undergoing a massive restructure.”

Over the summer months Scottish Enterprise has heard feedback from customers across a wide range of industries and sectors on the effects of the change in market conditions. It found that individual companies in industries such as construction and transport were experiencing difficult trading conditions.   However other firms, particularly those businesses services, had reported stable or even increased activity.

Mr Perry added that Scottish Enterprise would continue to help businesses pursue opportunities for growth but also wanted to ensure it was able to work with companies looking to protect margins through the downturn.

He added: “In addition, we will continue to monitor the local and global economy to ensure we respond quickly to the changing demands of our customers.”